Students must study and evaluate the social and ethical issues involved in the use of IT systems. These may include:
• the economic value of information
• environmental issues related to the production of computer components and supplies
• environmental issues related to the disposal of obsolete hardware and computer supplies
• health issues and ergonomics related to the use of hardware
• password protection, security, biometrics and authorized access
• issues related to viruses on both stand-alone and network systems
• greater dependence of organizations on IT
• increase in teleworking and the virtual office
• the need for ongoing training and retraining
• the economic and psychological implications of planned IT obsolescence in hardware, software and services, which has been forced on consumers by the IT industry
• organizational policies and standards, for example, e-mail, surveillance and monitoring policies.
Knowledge of technology
In order to study and evaluate the social and ethical issues involved in the use of IT systems, the student must have an understanding of related technological oncepts. These may include:
• key terms—data, information, hardware components, for example, input devices, output devices, processing, storage, memory (RAM, ROM), MHz, dpi, bit, KB, MB, GB, TB, ASCII, compatibility, OCR, OMR, bar code, baud, verification and validation, encryption/decryption, firewall, virus, Trojan horse, worm, logic bomb, platform, peripheral
• use, advantages and disadvantages of analogue and digital data
• operating systems (multitasking, boot) and utilities, for example, defragment, disk format, virus scan programs
• responsible computer use (for example, regular back-ups, virus checking, security, storage, housekeeping)
• a responsible and systematic approach to implementing or upgrading IT systems, for example, analysis, design, implementation, testing, evaluation, training, policies and standards.
Key terms:
Data -- any information that can be used
Information --
Hardware components
Input devices -- Anything that allows a user to communicate with the computer. These can include the following:
Mouse -- A device that allows for the positioning of a cursor
Keyboard -- a device that allows for the input of text data, using keys that are in either an I/O position
Output devices
Monitor -- displays what the computer is doing in a way that a user can understand
Printer -- outputs what the computer says to paper, allowing for a hard copy of whatever is needed
Processing -- the ability of a computer to take input data and convert it into output, using switches
Storage -- the ability of a computer to remember what it does for later recall
Memory -- Where a computer puts stored data
RAM (Random Access Memory) -- memory that requires power to be stored. This is usually faster than ROM, which doesn't.
ROM (Read Only Memory) -- memory that can not be changed. This is generally flash memory that is put in a BIOS chip or an optical disk
MHz -- a measurment for how fast a processor can change bits from 1 to 0. 1 MHz is one million bits per second
DPI -- a measurment for how high quality an image is based on the number of pixels there are in every inch.
Bit -- a 0 or 1 that a computer uses to store data
Byte -- 8 bits. This is the primary unit of measure for data storage
KB (kilobyte) -- 1024 bytes
MB (megabyte) -- 1024 KB
GB (gigabyte) -- 1024 MB
TB (terabyte) -- 1024 GB
PB (petabyte) -- 1024 TB
ASCII -- a standard that provides for characters used for input and output from a user
Compatability -- The ability of something to comply with the standards to something else
2.1.1 Systems fundamentals
Social and ethical issues
Students must study and evaluate the social and ethical issues involved in the use of IT systems. These may include:
• the economic value of information
• environmental issues related to the production of computer components and supplies
• environmental issues related to the disposal of obsolete hardware and computer supplies
• health issues and ergonomics related to the use of hardware
• password protection, security, biometrics and authorized access
• issues related to viruses on both stand-alone and network systems
• greater dependence of organizations on IT
• increase in teleworking and the virtual office
• the need for ongoing training and retraining
• the economic and psychological implications of planned IT obsolescence in hardware, software and services, which has been forced on consumers by the IT industry
• organizational policies and standards, for example, e-mail, surveillance and monitoring policies.
Knowledge of technology
In order to study and evaluate the social and ethical issues involved in the use of IT systems, the student must have an understanding of related technological oncepts. These may include:• key terms—data, information, hardware components, for example, input devices, output devices, processing, storage, memory (RAM, ROM), MHz, dpi, bit, KB, MB, GB, TB, ASCII, compatibility, OCR, OMR, bar code, baud, verification and validation, encryption/decryption, firewall, virus, Trojan horse, worm, logic bomb, platform, peripheral
• use, advantages and disadvantages of analogue and digital data
• operating systems (multitasking, boot) and utilities, for example, defragment, disk format, virus scan programs
• responsible computer use (for example, regular back-ups, virus checking, security, storage, housekeeping)
• a responsible and systematic approach to implementing or upgrading IT systems, for example, analysis, design, implementation, testing, evaluation, training, policies and standards.
Key Terms--
Key Concepts--